Lyman High In The Running To Receive National Honors

April 14, 1985|By Laura Santos of The Sentinel Staff?

LONGWOOD — Lyman High School is one of two Central Florida schools to make the final rounds of a national program honoring secondary schools.

After reviewing 509 entries from 48 states, a panel of educators from the U.S. Department of Education has narrowed to 273 the number of schools competing for recognition. New Smyrna Beach Senior High School in Volusia County also is a finalist.

Panel members will visit the chosen schools by May 31 before naming the winners, said Bruce Haslam, of the Program on Excellence in Education from his office in Washington. The winning schools will be announced June 17.

The number of winners varies each year. In 1984, 202 of the more than 500 schools submitted for consideration were chosen for recognition, Haslam said. There are about 4,200 middle, or junior high, and high schools in the country. Other Florida schools selected for visits are: Fort Myers High, Lee County; Gibbs Senior High School and Tyrone Middle School, Pinellas County; North Miami Beach Senior High and Southwood Junior High schools, Dade County; Sandalwood Junior-Senior High, Duval County; and Horace O'Bryant Middle School, Monroe County.

Carlton Henley, Lyman principal, said his school ''was very honored'' to be among those chosen for a visit. He attributed the school's success to the ''parents, staff and students who have worked hard to make our school great.'' In its third year, the Secondary Recognition Program is designed to identify those middle, or junior high, and high schools in the nation that ''have been extremely successful in meeting the educational needs of their students,'' Haslam said.

Each state department of education nominated schools based on student performance on standard achievement and minimum competency tests, number of students who continue their education after high school, student and teacher attendance rates and number of students suspended during the year. Schools also were judged by the number of awards received for outstanding programs and teachers and how many awards students have received in academic or vocational competitions.

Lyman students consistently place in the top on such tests as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the state assessment test. Lyman seniors in 1984 had an average SAT score of 926 out of 1600 compared with the county's average of 918 and the state average of 890. The national average is 897.

In the mathematics section of the state assessment test, Lyman students scored an average of 93 points compared with 87 for the state. In the section that measures verbal skills, the students scored an average of 97 points. The state average is 91.

In addition, the school has 49 winners in Florida's Program to Recognize Initiative and Distinction in Education. Last year Lyman students got 12 National Scholastic Art Awards, and the computer team won sixth place in a state competition. Also, Henley was selected this school year to represent all school principals in Florida in the In Honor of Excellence Program.

The winning schools will receive a plaque and a red-white-and-blue flag with the emblem of the U.S. Department of Education. The principal from each school and two other school representatives will be invited to Washington for the recognition ceremony.